The King and His People

My take on Rohan is that it is Old England.

Tolkien knew that world properly, and it comes through in the Rohirrim; the mead hall, carved wood, gold and green, horses, open land. Even the names feel familiar. If you have English blood, it feels homely — close to something you already know.

Underneath it there’s that older structure. The hall at the centre, the king among his people, everything held together by kinship and loyalty — something like frith, where peace comes from the bonds between people.

Théoden fits straight into that, and his story follows that old Germanic heroic arc: A king brought low, then restored, then riding out with full awareness of loss and sacrifice. He takes his place again and meets it properly, among his own. The best LOTR character imo.